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Neophyte Invasion in Moldavia (Eastern Romania) in Different Habitat Types

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Abstract

The actual state of neophyte invasion in Moldavia (Eastern Romania) is described in this paper on the basis of 11,055 phytosociological relevés. We analyzed the i) proportion of relevés with neophytes, ii) mean proportion of neophytes per relevés, and iii) mean coverage of neophytes per relevé for 36 EUNIS habitat types to identify general plant invasion patterns. The level of invasion differed considerably between habitats. The invasion of neophytes especially affected habitats strongly determined or influenced by man, such as anthropogenic woodlands, ruderal habitats, arable lands or trampled areas. Most natural habitats are either slightly invaded or entirely free of neophytes. Only riverine willow stands and wet tall-herb stands are relatively highly invaded. However, the absence of neophytes in some natural habitats less represented in the phytosociological dataset could be of artifactual nature. No significant relationship between the number of neophytes and non-neophytes was found in the analysis across different habitats. When the analyses were made within-habitats, both negative and positive relationships were found, which confirm that the relationship between alien and native species richness depends on the habitats. A total number of 105 neophyte species were recorded in the phytosociological relevés used in this study. Among these, 13 species that are currently considered invasive in Moldavia occur in at least 10 types of habitats.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by National Council for Scientific Research in Higher Education - Executive Unit for Financing Higher Education and Scientific University Research, project number PN II - IDEI 1227 / 2008. We express our gratitude to the editors and anonymous reviewers for the useful corrections and suggestions that have been incorporated into the revised manuscript, and to Mr. Andrew Jones for improving English.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Iaşi, Faculty of Agriculture, 3, Mihail Sadoveanu Alley, Iaşi, Romania

    Culiţă Sîrbu & Costel Samuil

  2. National Institute of Research and Development for Biological Sciences, branch Institute of Biological Research Iaşi, 47, Lascar Catargi Street, Iaşi, Romania

    Adrian Oprea

  3. “A. Fătu” Botanic Garden, “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University, 7-9, Dumbrava Roşie Street, Iaşi, Romania

    Cătălin Tănase

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  1. Culiţă Sîrbu
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Correspondence to Culiţă Sîrbu or Adrian Oprea.

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Sîrbu, C., Oprea, A., Samuil, C. et al. Neophyte Invasion in Moldavia (Eastern Romania) in Different Habitat Types. Folia Geobot 47, 215–229 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12224-011-9112-y

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